Topic: BigMike's Big Mini Japanese Vacation

[BigMike]

Inside Itami airport


I had some trouble getting my ticket to Kumamoto here. Since this was a domestic airport that was more on the outskirts of Osaka (I think?), very few workers could speak English. So communication was a bit slow. Apparently they said I am not in the system and that I'll have to buy a ticket. So I eventually found the Internet Cafe -- the one that I used to post that I had made it to Japan above -- and accessed my flight confirmation email. I took a picture of it with my camera and headed back to the ticket counter. I then showed the lady my camera and she apologized for earlier. Apparently she was only checking for a one-way ticket reservation when I had a round trip reservation. Anyway, I had like 2 hours to spare so I wasn't too stressed out over this. I was quite relieved once I had the ticket in hand.

A shot from the rain outside the Itami airport


This is inside the terminal after going through security. The security in Japan was WAAAAAAY easier than the security in America. I didn't even have to take off my shoes, and all the workers are so extremely friendly and nice. I really wish America had less jerks


Here is another Smoking room


And here I am on the very small and very uncomfortable airplane to Kumamoto.


Ok, I gotta run now, I will post more later

Mike

[BigMike [OP]]

That plane was super uncomfortable. The flight was about 2 hours and it took me for ever to get comfortable enough to sleep. This is unusual for me as I can sleep in the cab of my 1981 with triple Crawl Box shifters poking my side. The seats did not recline, my legs were jammed up against the seat in front of me, and my super nice noise canceling headphones didn't get along with the seat's head rest. There was only one position for my head that wouldn't strain my neck, which was to roll to the right and basically breathe all over the Japanese woman sitting next to me. So I just tried to fall asleep with my head to the left, and as soon as I was able to get some zzzZZzz's the flight was over.

Misato and her sister were waiting for me at the arrivals section of the Kumamoto airport. Misato and I gave each other a huge hug that lasted forever. We were just standing there holding each other, it was really great to be together again.

Then we headed home. Here is her sister's car that she picked me up with. It is a Nissan but I didn't check what model


Here is the view from the passenger's seat


I really like these small minivans. I would totally own one. There is a ton of space inside and they are very well put together. Competition is very high so they have a lot of great features that I've not see in American cars yet.

On the way home we stopped at a laundromat to pickup some dried clothes. Those driers were so huge I could easily jump in and take a couple spins in there. I bet two of me could fit in there!


And here I am at Misato's house, finally, for the second time. This house was built over 100 years ago and is on the 3rd generation right now. Her brother is the 4th generation and lives here as well. Someday he will inherit it like his fathers before him. This picture is with Misato, her mother and father, and their two dogs Shiba-san and Sora-san


Here I am with Sora. Everyone is surprised that Sora likes me because she typically only hangs out with mom. Misato's sister is especially jealous because she works at a Pet Grooming / Pet Hotel and LOVES dogs but Sora won't lay down with her but yet it only took her about 5 mins to lay down with me. So you know, I am pretty much earning browning points all over the place here at the moment

[BigMike [OP]]

I want to comment further on their house. I really like it because of how old it is. They even have actual trees inside that serve as supporting beams for the 2nd floor. Also there are spiders and flies and creatures of all kinds walking around and co-existing with everyone. But it's interesting that none of the insects are bothersome. Even the mosquitoes here just fly around and stay out of your way. In fact, I have yet to have a single bug fly near my face or bother me at all. If these were American insects, I would have a fly swatter and a can of Raid in both hands to defend myself, but it's like everything lives harmoniously and no one seems to mind each other. It may be that her family is so traditional, and the fact that we are waaaay outside the city, up in the mountains, and in a small village here, but life is so simple and the nature flows so well that it's really amazing. For instance, I am sleeping on the ground up in the 2nd floor bedroom and there was an odd looking spider cruising around near my bed (two 1.5" thick thin pads) (looks like a low-profile garden spider but with a wider track width) and I actually felt trust with the spider to not bother me. I know, sounds strange, but I would normally worry that the spider might climb in my ear or up my nose or something -- I am not afraid of spiders generally speaking -- but Misato has told me that they do not have any poisonous spiders here. So it was like, "oh hello strange looking spider that I don't know anything about, you're gonna hang out with me tonight, okay that's fine, good night"


Ok, gotta end this sort again. Looks like I am going to go out driving with her father again (yes I drove in Japan yesterday! It was AWESOME Pics and story coming soon!)

I'm trying to squeeze these updates in as time permits. It is about 2pm here Sunday afternoon. Talk to ya later, Mike

[BigMike [OP]]

The first day we took a drive through the country side to check some stuff out

Here are what the homes look like in this area


Farms


More farms (rice fields)


Ahh! I finally got a good pic of a 4WD Toyota!! I have seen quite a few lifted trucks (33" tires or so) but they pass the car so quick that it's difficult to turn the camera on, get it to focus, and get the picture. A real bummer


A pic of what the foothill roads look like. I LOVE the roads here. They are all like 30 MPH corners which are perfect to try to take at 50 MPH or so in my MR2. This would be a blast to drive my MR2 here. The speed limit seems to be 40 KPH (25 MPH) county wide. Waaaay slower than the 55 MPH county wide here in Fresno.


More pics of homes and such...


Rice fields everywhere you look


Some weird taco (octopus) building


What Japanese country road side billboards look like


A typical gas station. They have full service where 3 or 4 people will run, not lazily walk, RUN to your car with a huge IRASSHAIMASE greeting and immediately start washing your windshield, check your engine oil and various fluids, and pump your tank "gasorin mantan"

[BigMike [OP]]

Here is a family petting zoo, and I like it because of the cool Llama out front


Check this bad boy out. The sign in the upper left corner of the windshield reads something along the lines of "Drive this home today". The scoop on the hood designates the Turbo Charger.


Here is another lifted Toyota Surf. See what I'm talking about in trying to whip out the camera and get a shot before the traffic passes?


Then we went to the 2nd oldest shrine in Japan. I'll have to ask what this place is called. I've been to more elaborate shrines in the past in Japan. I couldn't tell if it was "old" and hence "special".


Koi pond out front. Hopefully the Koi were happily feeding on Ka (mosquito) larve


A pic from inside the courtyard


Another building inside


Here is the inside of the above building




People outside doing some traditional clap hands twice and then say a short prayer.


Here is a fortune I received while there. I do not believe in fortune but I opened the envelope anyway and they said I got a good fortune (there isn't much to describe, basically what counts is if its good or bad).


This looked cool so I took a pic of it


Here is the back side to the front entrance building


Here is the structure to the far right side of the courtyard


More stuff inside


Here is a sweet Daihatsu. Despite it's strange appearance, I really like it. I've seen a couple that were fixed up and looked really sporty. Japan has a K-car classification for smaller cars and this seems to be a popular model

[BigMike [OP]]

Here is Misato sitting next to some cool water wheels outside the shrine. She is so beautiful


Drove past this parked Land Cruiser. I've seen a LOT of (Land Cruiser) Prado's here so far.


Here is the car we've been driving in. This is Misato's fathers car. It is a Toyota Ractis


We then stopped at an amazing Vegetable store / Soba noodle restaurant for lunch. Here are some Bamboo


Herbs


More veggies :yummy:


$20 watermelon


Daikon?


More veggies


People shopping for delicious food


Here is a petrified tree stump outside


The menu where we ate


A sweet costume I want to try on someday


Japanese vending machines


Japanese hand dryer (America is FINALLY catching on)


Japanese urinals (these seem to be the standard from what I've seen on this trip so far)


Outside in the parking lot I found this Suzuki Join Every Turbo LOL


And one of the ugliest cars I have even seen in my life, a Peugeot 307 cc. This car is up there with the GMC Hummer, GMC Avalance, and Pontiac Aztec as the ugliest vehicle on the planet.


And check it out!! Here I am DRIVING IN JAPAN!!!!!!!

[BigMike [OP]]

Don't worry though, I brought my International Drivers Permit This was the first time driving a right hand car. (Check out my Marlin Crawler 8th Annual Round-Up shirt. REPRESENT!)

It is actually not bad at all. I adjusted to the other side of the road instantly. The only thing that took me a while to get used to is how wide the car is on my left side. I had to be extra mindful of the width on the left side of the car, which took me a while to get a feel for

More country side Japanese homes


Green houses all over the place


More rice fields


Check out their cute frog construction equipment!!


What the roads look like


and Kumamoto's super green nature

[BigMike [OP]]

We stopped at a store for a potty break and I found some Kame Hashi (Turtle Chopsticks). They were like $5 for some reason, dang!


Some good looking Corn


And Misato eating some s-u-p-e-r delicious black sesame ice cream. Next to Green Tea ice cream, this would have to be the best ice cream flavor I've ever tried.


Then we took a trip up into the mountains. Look carefully at the middle-right side of the pic. They had a lot of these fully fenced mountain walls to prevent falling rocks. So far I have not seen a caution falling rocks sign and I have yet to see a fallen rock.


Check out that mirror in the center of this pic. This is how you look around blind corners in Japan. They are EVERYWHERE. So if a car is not coming, you just naturally take the entire road. People here take liberty on the road all the time


Ancient volcano?


Roads look so cool up here. Up hill next to a cliff with a great view into a blind left corner. Totally awesome


Look at these curves. The roads are so much better than Fresno roads. Also the pavement is mint everywhere out here


The green hills just roll on and on and...


Road construction workers. They were SUPER nice. We had to stop and wait for other traffic to pass and they would bow to us each time the traffic stopped. When they gave us the green to drive through, they waved their hands and bowed really deep and told us thank you for waiting and to drive safe. Everyone here is so nice it's crazy


There were many times where the trees would form tunnels like this. Also notice the logs cut and ready to be hauled away


Here we are stopped to pick up some cake from a famous desert restaurant atop this mountain


Here is Misato inside waiting for mom to pickup the cake


Here is Misato and her mother, Mitsuko! I really like her parents, they are really nice and also very hard working people!


Here is a pic of the beautiful (but small) garden outside the restaurant. Everywhere you go you see flower gardens like this, even in front of 7-11 liquor stores. Also no trash to be seen, no gum stuck to the sidewalk, no graffiti anywhere


A cool Subaru WRX out front


More driving. Found this cool tree line so I took a pic of it


More green houses stashed all over the place


That's it for now. It's about 11:30pm Saturday night here and I am off to sleep. I've got a LOT more pictures so stay tuned to this thread.

BigMike

[Toymin8r]

It was crazy, one of Misato`s classmate`s friends happened to be traveling to Japan on the same plane as I! And it turned out she was on the 1st plane I took too. Wow, small world!

Can you say, Federal Air Marshall?

[unclejpl4x4]

Wow mike those are some really nice pics  ,the country side is so nice. 

[jrock]

I want to go SO bad now!

[Caboose]

every time i hear about how nice another culture is, i keep asking what happened to us?  At least here in CA, i hear its different in the south (never been).

[Rocksurfer]

I've noticed a difference in people outside the major cities and states like California, LA, Chicago, New York, etc., etc.  I've always noticed the instant transition when going to Arizona, roads are nice, clean and for the most part the people are completely different.

I love the  pics Mike keep 'em coming.

[*FFC*]

I gotta say Mike, I saw one of those hand dryers for the first time yesterday and I think it's genius!! And faster than paper towels and the regular "American" blower dryers too

OH Congrats to Billy and Tomoko!!!!! How exciting - I didn't know they expanded their family. I'm very happy for them!

I have another friend in Japan right now and she keeps posting photos of the culture/country and looking at both hers and your photos makes me want to add Japan to my "must visit before I die" list. It's sooo green and lush there, I'd LOVE to see it in person!

Tell Misato I said hello!! Can't wait to read more

[BigMike [OP]]

Hey guys,

I am so far behind on updates, mainly because a lot is going on over here. I've got too much to comment on all these photos. There is a lot I really want to share, but if I think about it all, then I would just stop updating.

So here come some more pics with as few details as possible. If you have any question, please post up!

After buying some Japanese cake, which BTW tastes NOTHING like full-of-sugar-and-is-ridiculously-overwhelmingly-sweet American cake. I can actually eat Japanese cake, like an entire slice. I can barely finish a slice of American cake, and I'll feel like crap for the next 3 or 4 hours. Anyway, rant off lol, after that, we went to this AWESOME little community on the side of a mountain.

All the steam you see in the next few pics is all from Onsen - natural hot springs





Their are a ton of cracks in the ground where this super hot water comes up from



And what this place does is they build their homes around all the hot springs such that every house has it's own supply of free hot water.



The pic above is some bamboo pads resting atop a really hot spot. You can lay down a bunch of vegetables and cook your food outside right there

Here is a more developed space



It's really crazy. Every now and then a small spit of hot water will burst up and just a small spray of that water was enough to hurt my hand, it's extremely hot



You are probably wondering if it stinks (since it is mineral water) and the answer is yes, but not too bad. Their is a slight sulfur smell but it is entirely bearable and after walking around for a while it blends ins.



This place also gets about 1 meter of snow fall each winter (around 3.3-feet) and all the hot water flowing everywhere keeps the roads and area around the houses nice and thawed



Here they are cooking some hard boiled eggs. They said it only takes but a few mins to cook like two or three dozen eggs, it's really fast



I took a lot of video (I've been taking a lot of video the entire trip) & I will share later (I'll upload the vids once I get home to a more stable and much faster internet connection).

Hot water just running down the street



Look at all the steamy spots





This is a restaurant using entirely the hot steam to cook 100% of their food



This one house near the top of the area had the largest amount of steam



Misato

[gtoyonrocks]

Looks like a good time. I have been to Japan three times. I love it there. Soak up as much of their culture as you can.

[BigMike [OP]]

I ate a hard boiled egg from that place that was naturally cooked with the steam and it was really good. They say that the extra minerals that come up in the steam make the egg taste better, and also because the egg is cooked so quickly, its flavor is different than what you'd get from boiling water at home. The yoke was really dark which indicates a quick cook. It seriously was one of the best hard boiled eggs I've ever had.

Check this out: This white powder is to disinfect your TIRES. Apparently there is some sort of a mad cow type disease that they have isolated to this one prefecture just south of us, and all the major road ways from that prefecture have either this white powder or some road workers with some liquid disinfectant on the road to make sure that the cars are not spreading the disease. Crazy



Doing some more driving and I had to represent



Here are some sweet Yam french fries that were super delicious



And here is a mix of dried vegetables. This had to be the best dried vegetable snack I've ever had



They use these cables for guard rails instead of the continuous metal rails that we use, however some places do use metal railing.



This is what you'll find at a T in the road



Saw a Japanese biker & you know I had to get a pic of that



More cables





I'd rather have the continuous metal railing to be honest

A lot of the corners up in the mountains were cemented (or whatever that is). Forget about falling rocks.



Just check out these AWESOME roads! Ohhhh man I want to drive my MR2 here!!



More Rice Fields (are you guys getting it yet? They are everywhere!)



We stopped to get some gas and got flooded with instant customer service



Look how weird their gas nozzles look



It's got a Pistol-type grip that is separate from the fuel line



They had a small repair garage so I had to walk over to it to take a pic



More rice fields and green houses everywhere you look



Here is a pic of a Japanese cemetery. I don't know how it is in the rest of the US, but in Fresno we only have very large cemeteries, but in Japan they have a LOT of these really small ones. There were only about 2 dozen grave sites at most here. Not too far down the road there was another small cemetery.



Ohh look, more rice fields



Check it out, another 70 series!!!



I have seen a LOT of 4WD trucks out in the country side. I've seen 1 FJ40, a ton of FJ70s, a ton of FJ80s, a bunch of Surfs, Mitsubishi Pajeros, even some Nissan Patrols. But it's been a real challenge trying to get the pictures while driving in the car.

[BigMike [OP]]

Looks like a good time. I have been to Japan three times. I love it there. Soak up as much of their culture as you can.

Cool, for service or pleasure? This is my 4th visit


Check this out, this is a digital warning sign at the beginning of some road construction. It is a video of a road worker first instructing you to slow down by waving a baton, and then he bows really deep to thank you for your corporation



After this there was another digital sign with instructions on how to drive through the road construction. I think these signs would get vandalized or stolen if used in California

Here is the Japanese arrow signs



Some cool landscaping



It's tough to see, but this guy was driving around with the windshield down and no roll bar



Another Surf

[BigMike [OP]]

every time i hear about how nice another culture is, i keep asking what happened to us?  At least here in CA, i hear its different in the south (never been).

Hey you know, this doesn't apply to a bigger city, but out here in the country side they leave their car windows down AND the keys IN THE IGNITION when they go inside like a 7-11 to get some snacks. In fact Misato's sister did just this when we picked up their laundry. Misato said she with emphasis that she has _never_ heard of a car getting stolen in the country side. I'm sure its happened, but I mean that's pretty trustworthy of others. I wouldn't do that in the driveway of my own house for Pete's sake

We then went to a shopping center. I needed to use the restroom and I found a Vans sticker on an air freshener



Outside the restroom there was this map to the bathroom layout including both the handicap and Womans restrooms. I thought it was silly so I took a pic of it. Who needs this, honestly?



Here are some really cute kids watching a kids show (while their parents shop maybe?)



Father's day sales are going on so it's a madhouse



They've got some familiar American food





I found an original Austin Mini Cooper at a Hat place which I thought was an awesome touch



Check this out, Mitsubishi even makes escalators. Mitsubishi is involved in so many different industries it's CRAZY. You should Wikipedia them, you'd be surprised!




hahahaha this is a guide to the Cinemas. "Iron Man 2" and "Sex In The City With Old Ugly Hags" were the only movies I recognized. But good luck, I mean can you tell me what is playing at 7:30 pm? LOL



Misato picked up this manikin baby and it looked surprisingly real!



Out side in the parking lot you can find strange things inside cars. Like this



HAHAHAHA CHECK THIS OUT! IT IS A PERFECT PICTURE! A STUPID HUMMER THAT IS ALSO HANDICAPPED AND PARKED INCORRECTLY IN THE TYPICAL AMERICAN STYLE!!! LOLOLOLOL



Walking around outside was quite nice thanks to the cushioned sidewalk material that you'd find at a school or park play ground. Man that was nice to walk on!



NICE

[BigMike [OP]]

We met up with three of Misato's friends from middle school (6th-8th grade in Japan). We then went to dinner

So what would you like to order for dinner?



This is what we got



It was tough trying to stay involved with their conversations. They hadn't seen each other for years and were talking fast and moving from subject to subject to subject. At first it was pretty stressful but then I became more comfortable and talked a lot in Japanese with them

Then we left and went to a Denny's type place for some desert



It was very late now, around 10pm or so, and her one friend's husband just got off of work. He works at a TOYOTA DEALERSHIP! It is a dealership for mainly K-type cars (small compact Toyotas) but it was still a lot of fun talking to him. I gave him a business card and he was excited to see what Marlin Crawler was all about Misato said that car salesmen work extremely long hours yet while only earning just above basic pay. They work like 7 or 8 am until 9 or 10 pm. They can't leave work until the last customer has left, which sometimes can take up to midnight or later. They are required to stay there!

He had not eaten dinner, so this is what he ordered:



Here he is with his wife and another one of Misato's middle school friends. The middle friend is a beautician, the friend on the right is a nurse.



Here I am with Misato and the 3rd friend. She is a chemical Engineer for Mitsubishi. Really nice people. They really liked my silly Japanese jokes. It was a lot of fun



Then they all left and Misato and I hung out while we waited for her (younger) sister Ayami to finish work. She worked until 1:30 am -- in addition to her full day time job. She works crazy hard. I took a short power nap at the table



On the way home I spotted a couple setup rigs. WOW, that was AWESOME! It was like they were meeting up to go do some night wheeling or something!

[*FFC*]

Those hot springs are awesome - talk about efficiency!

So with all that steam going constantly, you'd think they'd have a mold problem, similar to that of homes on the beach. I'd guess with the warm steam the mold would be more of a problem than the cold salty ocean air. Any info on that Mike? What do they do about the moisture/humidity in the homes/structures?

OH, and when I went to Oklahoma back in May, I saw the same type of 'guardrails' - the ones made from cable. I actually really like them just 'cuz they look more sharp than the metal guardrails in CA. However, I think I'd rather rely on CA's guardrails than OK/Japan's

[BUDDERS]

Wow Mike, nice pictures.  I wanted to go there before but now I want to go there a lot more.  I think I'd really dig the countryside and the food.  I love how clean everything looks there!

[BigMike [OP]]

Sorry guys, I`ve been super busy and have only had very limited time with the computer.

I`ll try to post some more updates tomorrow morning. Its about 1am here right now and I`m off to sleep

G`night
BigMike

[*** YELLER ***]

WOW Mike those pictures bring back some fond memories of when I was in Okinawa Japan for a year in the Marine Corps, thanks for posting them and keeping us updated on your trip stay safe and have fun buddy, and keep the pictures coming. When I was in Okinawa there were no urinals just a troff.... things must be different on the mainland. anyway have fun buddy

[superyota]

nice pics mike!  looks like your having a great time.  keep the pics coming

[HDcruiser]

Wow Mike, what a beautiful country!!! keep sending us a update with pictures, and enjoy your time over there. 

[BigMike [OP]]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Ok, here we go with more pictures!!!

Sunday

I really wanted to work on the farm with Misato's father on this trip, so I made sure to arrange some time that I could spend with him. Today Misato and her sister went to the city to do some shopping and spend some time together, and I hung out with her father. It was a lot of fun and we talked a lot.

Here I am in the morning getting ready to head out


But it turned out to be raining so hard that we couldn't work on the farms and rather, her father decided to drive me around and show me what he does It was really great!

Water was beginning to flood all over the place outside, it was coming down pretty good


We drove down the road a bit and stopped at a group of Green Houses. These were some of his strawberries


This is after the harvest season and the plants are for the most part dead. They are in the process of pulling them out and replacing the soil.

Here is some of the plumbing. They pump water mixed with fertilizer through a rubber tube with holes in it, and another line that is sealed circulates warm oil through the plants to maintain a proper temperature.


These are the machines that are used to keep the environment of the plants in tact. The large red machine pumps warm air through the green house while the smaller gray machine pumps CO2.


They had many of these slits in the walls near the ground for bees to enter into the green house. They are down here so that while the bees are checking out the weeds and flowers outside, they will naturally skim across and enter right into the green house. Of course the bees are needed for the plants to cross pollinate


Here is another shot of the dead plants ready to be removed


Here are some interesting tid bits I learned:

• Birds sometime enter the green house and they will only eat the largest, most plump strawberries. So they use large nets to catch & release the birds outside.
• The strawberries are sold to Osaka (on the main island of Honshuu). They are picked and shipped on the same day, ready for sale the next day. So ppl buying them in Osaka are purchasing 1 day old Strawberries. Nice
• The plastic paper that covers the green house is supposed to only last 1 year, but they sometimes get 2 years out of them depending on how much sun they got
• There are lights inside, but the sun is what does all the work. If there isn't much sunlight, then the strawberries will not taste as good
• The buildings here are about 4 or 5 years old. They contracted some ppl to erect them
• They only use fertilizer, no pesticides and no chemicals. They release a crap load of lady bugs and also sometimes praying mantis to keep the bad bugs to a minimum.

[BigMike [OP]]

Hey guys, looks like I won't be able to post more, I prepared 45 pics to upload but I think I need to leave now

BTW I've taken over 1,500 pictures now, I am waaaay behind on the updates as mentioned earlier

[hilux-1983]

I'm sure we'll see alooooooot more once you get back

[BigMike [OP]]

I'm sure we'll see alooooooot more once you get back

Ohh yeah, I sure miss cable internet It's not that Japan doesn't have any good internet service, but rather we are so far out in the country side and up in the foothills so the internet connection is shoddy at best.

I might have to stop abruptly at any moment here...

Here is her father's electrical panel inside each green house.



Then we drove to some other green houses of his. This is where he grows his tomatoes


Outside are more rice fields. I swear, where ever there is undeveloped land, no matter the size or location, they turn it into a rice field. I've seen a rice field so small you couldn't even park a car in.


He said they should be ready to pick in 8 or 10 more days. He said that they aren't looking so good at the moment


Fly paper. Also, they have yellow ribbons all over the place that they use to attract the small white flies to lay their eggs on. When the eggs hatch, there is nothing for them to eat, so they die.


Back outside, here is a view looking over the rice field and down at Kumamoto city. I told him that farmers in the Fresno area would die to have this beautiful green luscious view everyday at work.


Here are the small roads that branch off of the main road to access each farming area



It wouldn't be the same without more rice fields (okay, I'll stop posting pictures of rice fields)


Another view looking down into the valley from the hillside farms


And then dad let me drive


Man, the $20 spent on that international drivers license was excellent!


Here is the work truck I was driving. It's a Mazada


WOW shifting gears with my left hand was REALLY WEIRD! The shift from 2nd to 3rd felt really strange! The truck drove really great and was really easy to drive. It had a steering lock of about 500, I could have been in a school bus and would have felt the same with the steering.

He had me take this small road way up the side of a mountain




We went up and down and up and down, in and out of deep, dense forest to green rolling hills and so forth. Finally, when we began to climb above the trees, this is where we emerged


It was extremely beautiful, the picture really doesn't do much justice. It was drizzling just a bit and it was very windy. You could see the wind moving through the grass all around you. The wind gentling blowing through the grass was the only sound you could hear. Dad said that on a clear day you can see the other side of the bay where Nagasaki is. WOW

Some fun facts:

• They don't have any mountain lions, or coyotes, or bobcats, or wolves.
• They have a lot of deer a bit further into the mountains.
• NO ONE in Japan hunts animals. There is no such thing as deer hunting. Japanese people, maybe because they have so few resources, really appreciate and respect nature and always go out of their way to avoid harming animals.
• They do have a lot of wild pigs in the area
• The larger trees were all hand planted
• They let fires naturally keep the grass at length